Reading for escapism is something Infra.Market CEO Souvik Sengupta does on a regular basis. That's rare to hear from founders of internet and technology firms, for whom, generally, every action in their life supplements their business ambitions.
Infra.Market is a B2B (business-to-business) e-commerce firm that runs a brand of construction material, concrete and chemicals used in infrastructure projects. The company became a unicorn- valued at a billion dollars in 20 months after its first funding round.
Speaking to Moneycontrol’s M. Sriram in a Clubhouse session- All About Books, he was at his candid best. Here are some of his foremost statements from the conversation.
How his reading is going
“Sadly, most of my time would go in re-reading something, because what often happens is, I would catch a book I'll read through it, and then something will come up so I prefer reading parts of something I've already read.”
Business books
“I hate reading business books, usually. Amazon (Unbound by Brad Stone) is sort of an anomaly there. My idea is that I usually read for escapism, I want to not be doing what I do every day. So, I don't want to read about business a lot. I get a lot of business knowledge from board meetings.”
P G Wodehouse
“I read P G Wodehouse a lot because it's damn funny. You can read 10 or 20 pages and let it go.”
Comics
“I am a huge collector of comics, I have the entire Calvin and Hobbes series, entire Peanuts series, entire Tintin series and Asterix and Obelix series.”
Classic books
“If I want to read classics, I will go back to a rating system. I follow who won the Booker prize, which book is famous, books that have won awards.”
Not on the recommended list
“I don’t like books that don't have language in it, it's just a story and I really don’t like self-help books.”
Physical books vs. E-books vs. audiobooks
“I don't like e-books; I have a kindle, but I never seem to finish a book there.”
“I use a kindle for comics, I have the entire Calvin and Hobbes series, it's impossible to carry them.”
Peer pressure
“There is definitely a lot of peer pressure, everyone says we have read this book and then I will read.”
“Every business book I have is because of peer pressure.”
Books by investors
“We get gifted books by all investors; sometimes my investors will courier a book and it's about team building, then I realise this is where I lack. Or sometimes they'll send a book on how to go public or how companies operate, and they will courier, they will first mail and if they feel I am not looking through the mail, they will courier the book.”
History of reading
“My schooling was in Calcutta, and we have a great library culture there. I grew up with Satyajit Ray, Adventures of Feluda series, so I read just to relax.”
Racist historical books
“Tintin’s author (Belgian cartoonist Herge) did clarify himself and said, 'you grew up in that racist environment, yes we were racist because we grew up thinking racism was normal.’ By growing up in that environment it's a part of what you learn and write in your books. Even if you take Gulliver’s Travels people say the book is misogynistic. Or newer books like Harry Potter, a lot of people say she did not put enough effort in ethnic characters.”
Reading with intent
“I do read with intent, if a book captures my attention it gets me in the long run. If I read only with intent, I kind of lose focus, it's very difficult for me. If you want to quickly read something just for the sake of growing up in business and I need to read some pointers, chances are that I perhaps will not keep it in mind.”
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